


Great Gig In The Sky

by gingifere



Series: Orchestra Verse [1]
Category: Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-14
Updated: 2011-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-20 10:14:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/211695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingifere/pseuds/gingifere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kame can take the stress (probably) of training to become one of the world's best pianists; dealing with his fellow students--and one in particular--is another matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Great Gig In The Sky

**Part I**

 _Autumn 2006_

Kame can remember his first day at Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku almost perfectly; his dad hadn’t been able to make it, a sudden mix-up with his schedule forcing him to fly three days early to London to play for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and so his mother had forced all four of them into the car at 7 am the day of his move-in into the dorms in Nerima, and informed his brothers that they either help him move into his new dorm, or they could find their own damn way home again. Yūichirō had been amused at all the junk Kame had somehow managed to convince himself he’d needed to bring to university with him, whilst Kōji had bitched about the hot date in Disneyland he’d had to skip out on to help his baby brother. Yuya had simply spent the majority of the car ride telling Kame how lucky he was to move into his own place, even if he did have to share a bathroom.

They ended up driving around in circles for half an hour because the directions the university sent him were shit and the old lady behind the combini tucked next to a post office had no idea where Hatori College was, much less where he was supposed to collect his keys and register. Which was why, by the time midday came round, his mother was about ready to throw all four of them out of the car and Kame was wondering if he’d be better to simply jump out of the car and walk to the university reception if it would mean his brothers would stop whining.

By the time they arrived at his college, they were cranky and hungry and Yūichirō and Kōji all but threw Kame and his suitcases out of the car into his dorm room whilst his mother tutted and fretted about how small his bedroom was.

“Seriously mum,” Kame sighed as she fluttered around the room throwing disdainful looks at the opened suitcase on Kame’s roommate’s bed, clothes thrown haphazardly on the floor.

“Look, at least I get my own sink ok?” he continued, gesturing to where two single sinks are tucked just inside the wall by the front door. One of them already had after shave, a tooth brush and tooth paste scattered all over it, and Kame figured he’d need to invest in a toothbrush holder simply to avoid getting toothpaste all over the sink.

“Hmm,” his mother said, frowning. “I told your father we should have gone for a private on-suite bedroom for you, but no, your father tells me that sharing a room is all part of the learning experience. Well if your roommate murders you in the night, your father certainly won’t be saying that.”

Kame caught Yuya’s eyes and smiled as his little brother rolled his eyes as he followed Yūichirō and Kōji outside to the car bring in the rest of the suitcases. All four of them are used to his mother’s half hysterical rants and have as such learnt to just let he be when she works herself up into a state.

Swallowing a sigh, Kame glanced around his room, feeling the first frission of excitement and nerves curl in his stomach. This was the first time he’d been away from home on his own, and he was caught between joy at the idea of freedom and fear that he’d end up rooming with someone awful, that he wouldn’t be able to handle the work load and his first year of university would end in a fiery ball of disaster. He knew it was irrational, but a childhood spent with one of the most prolific trumpet players in the world as his father meant he had a deep-set fear of failing.

Almost as if his mother could hear his thoughts, she stopped mid-rant and pinned him with a soft smile.

“You know we’ll always support you, don’t you?” she asked, moving forward to slip an arm around his shoulders. “No matter what your father says when he gets into one of his hysterical old man rants, we’ll always be proud of you.”

“Even if I dropped out of uni to become a busker for the rest of my life?” Kame asked, trying to hide his smile.

“Well, you might want to consider moving to England if you do decide to take up busking, and giving your father at least ten years to deal with the heart attack you’ll likely cause,” his mother said, eyes sparkling with humour. “But yes. You will always have our support.”

Kame could feel his mouth curve into an awkward half smile, and he knew he was going to say something horrifically embarrassing that would cause his mother to well up and his brothers to punch his arm if they overheard it, but before he could, the door swung open and a boy with the largest hair he had ever seen stumbled through the door.

He was met with a bright blinding smile, and shockingly dark brown eyes before the guy dumped what looked like a tuba case onto the floor, and loped across the room, hand already out.

“Hey man, you must be Kamenashi-kun right? I’m Shirota Yuu, pleased to meet you.” He said in a low, slightly accented voice. Despite the fact that he was wearing a pair of jeans that were more hole than fabric, his smile was bright and genuine and Kame felt his lips quirk into his own genuine smile.

“Mm, call me Kame. Pleased to meet you Shirota-san.” Kame smiled, taking his hand gingerly before gesturing to his mother. “This is my mother, Kamenashi Keiko.”

Shirota’s smile grew even wider when he turned to face Kame’s mother, and he bowed politely and elegantly.

“Please call me Yuu. Shirota makes me sound like my brother, and believe me, that is not a good thing.” Yuu said, shrugging off his coat.

Kame could practically feel his mother relaxing at Yuu’s polite, sincere-seeming smile, and breathed a sigh of relief that she won’t be ringing every night to ensure that he’d not been kidnapped.

His mother opened her mouth, and Kame could already feel the embarrassing barrage of questions she’d ask Yuu, questions about his parents, about what he played and what classes he would be taking, all covered by a thin veneer of politeness when the door swung open again and Koji stumbled through with two suitcases.

“Jesus, Kame, I am never ever helping you move again. What did you bring, your entire bloody wardrobe?” he demanded, completely unaware that Kame’s mother had pinned him with a narrow eyed glare.

“I beg your pardon, Kamenashi Koji, but I do hope I did not just hear you swear at your little brother,” she demanded softly and dangerously and Kame met Yuu’s raised eyebrow and little smile with an eye roll.

As Koji tried to defend himself and Yuu slid over to Kame to tell him about the welcome party tonight, Kame felt that maybe he’d settle in just fine.

~ ~ ~

Five hours later, he was regretting ever agreeing to hang out with Shirota Yuu’s friends. Yuu, it seemed, was a snake in sheep’s clothing, a slimy little bastard who’d made friends with nearly every first year student in the school already.

When Yuu had suggested they go a grab a few drinks at the student bar, he’d blissfully agreed, the memory of his families exuberant goodbyes still fresh in his mind. He’d expected a decent sized bar, maybe to have a few pints and a light snack before heading back to his room to finish his unpacking. Instead he found himself sandwiched between Yuu and a short guy called Nishikido, who’d sneered when he’d learned that Kame played the violin as well as the piano, muttering something about pond scum and violinists that Kame hadn’t even attempted to try and figure out. He was currently watching in something akin to horror as a guy with shaved white blonde hair mixed beer with vodka, sambuca and sake before thrusting it in front of a tall guy with long curled brown hair.

Kame was somewhat unsurprised when the curly haired guy downed the drink and smirked slowly at the cheers, tongue running along his bottom lip. Kame was even more unsurprised when he suddenly turned to pin him with a smug smile, arching an eyebrow at Kame’s frown.

Kame’s scowl deepened as the guy (Akanishi, he remembered, the bastard who’d stolen the last Rachmaninov Piano Concerto score right out from under Kame’s nose, and who instead of looking apologetic, had simply shrugged and said casually, “You lose some, you win some”. Kame had been tempted to show him just how ex-baseball players deal with losses, until his mother had started calling his name and he’d had to stick with grumpily stalking out of the shop), winked at him before sauntering over to where the rest of the percussion section were sitting, various selections of vodka and gin in front of them.

He jumped slightly when Yuu shoved a bottle of beer into his hand with a bright smile, before slinging an arm around his shoulders and forcing him to join in with a drunken rendition of ‘Fat Bottom Girls’. It was hard not to smile after that and even as Kame spent the next day on his knees in the bathroom, he figured that it was a fitting start to university.

~ ~ ~

 _Winter 2006_

Kame’s halfway through his first winter term when he meets Shibutani Subaru for the first time. He’s spent most of November trying not to hyperventilate over his work load and organising a working rota so that he doesn’t keep Yuu up with work and Yuu doesn’t keep him up with partying. He’s not quite sure how Yuu manages to balance being a full time cello student with going out four times a week and getting absolutely snookered, but manage he does.

Kame’s searching through the different leaflets pinned to the student notice board, wondering if he can get a job tutoring someone, because money’s been tight and Lord knows he’s not about to demand any more cash from his parents, when Kusano suddenly appears next to him, baritone sax case banging loudly against the side of the wall. He’s met with Kusano’s blinding smile as he pulls another shorter man after him, who stares at Kame rather blankly.

“Kame, man it’s good to see you!” Kusano says brightly, and Kame feels himself smile back. He hasn’t seen Kusano since his final year at high school and he’s looking good.

“Mm, you too. I heard you spent your summer in America. How was Julliard?” Kame asks, trying to hide his own envy. He’d been offered the same opportunity as Kusano to head to New York for two months, but had come down with the flu and had to spend his summer wrapped up in blankets in a hotel in Venice feeling pathetic and sorry for himself.

“Fucking ace dude. Seriously, I was sorry to hear you couldn’t make it. New York is a kickass place,” Kusano enthuses, face lighting up into a bright smile. He suddenly pulls the other man forwards and gestures to Kame brightly. “Oh yeah, this is Shibutani Subaru. He’s in my introduction to jazz class on Thursdays.”

Kame smiles and returns the shorter man’s bow. He’s almost 3 inches shorter than Kame, with long wavy brown hair and intense intelligent eyes and Kame can feel the man assessing him quietly and calmly.

“Pleased to meet you Shibutani-kun, my name is Kamansahi Kazuya,” Kame says politely, 18 years of manners shoved down his throat by his parents blossoming. “Feel free to call me Kame though. Everyone else does.”

Subaru smiles slowly, a smile that makes his eyes crinkle and shows a flash of straight white teeth. “It’s nice to meet you Kame-chan. You can call me Subaru or Baru.”

“Awesome,” Kusano interrupts before Kame can reply, grasping onto his wrist and dragging him and Subaru down to the outside quad where a trio of benches are set around a tree. He collapses onto one and stretches out with a sigh, gesturing for Kame and Subaru to sit down with him. “Ok, so the reason I introduced you guys, apart from to spread my honoured sempai’s reputation,” he says, throwing Kame a quick grin when he sees his cheeks flush slightly at the praise,” is because I’ve been thinking about the winter concert. I know we can audition, and I already figure you’ll be doing something with the piano section, the same way me and Baru will be doing something with the jazz section, but I was thinking right, you took a year of jazz piano right, Kame? With Yamaguchi-sensei?”

Kame blinks slightly at the subject change and smiles at Subaru’s eye roll, pleased to note that America hasn’t changed his friend too much.

“Yes.” Kame says nodding. “I also took a class over the Christmas period of eleventh grade with Hayato-kun in 1B, so I guess my jazz piano skills aren’t too awful. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Kusano says, drawing out the ‘e’, and pinning them both with a wide smile. “How’d you guys feel about doing a jazz trio for the concert? I mean Subaru is the best damn double bassist I know, Kame, you’re an ace pianist, and I’m not a half bad tenor saxophonist. I figure we’ve got, what, a month to throw something together if we manage to impress Tsubasa-sensei in auditions right? I say we go in there, and blow their minds.”

Kame’s half ready to say no, the idea of trying to practise for a concert, trying to remember everything he’s ever learnt about jazz piano and writing three 5000 word essays filling him with a half controlled panic, when he makes the mistake of meeting Kusano’s eyes. He can see Subaru cocking his head to the side thoughtfully, and damn it, Kame already knows he’s doomed when he meets Kusano’s enthusiastic gaze. Kame thinks about meeting in a small room twice a week, listening to Subaru pluck the strings of his bass and the low steady sound of the tenor sax and he already knows he’ll say yes.

“Ok. When’s our first rehearsal?”

This is how Kame finds himself watching Kusano argue with the guy with blonde hair he remembers watching down five pints of Guinness on a bet during fresher’s week, as Akanishi slouches against a wall and juggles four pairs of drum sticks, a thin guy with long brown hair watching him with a bored look of amusement. Akanishi had barely even glanced at Kame when they’d entered the practise room and Kame is torn between relief and outrage. He’s gotten to know Akanishi over the last month and a half thanks to his friendship with Yuu, and they’ve gotten to a point where they can comfortably ignore one another without Kame worrying about offending anyone.

“Look, it’s none of your damn business who I play with, Akanishi,” Kusano suddenly snaps and Kame looks up in surprise from where he’s busy admiring the a _Mason & Hamlin_, one of the piano departments better instruments. The piano is spread across the back of the practice room, a soft mahogany colour that Kame can’t wait to get his hands on. He’s surprised to find Akanishi’s intensely dark eyes on him, eyebrows twisted into a frown.

“Fine, but don’t come begging me for another musician a week before the winter concert just because your pretty, talented piano player couldn’t play a jazz piece if Thelonious Monk himself showed him,” Jin says, shrugging dismissively before lazily walking out of the practice room, the thin attractive boy he’d been juggling for shrugging almost apologetically before following him out.

Kame feels his lips twist and a rush of awkward embarrassment fill him. Sure, he won’t be as good as jazz pianist as, say, Kimura Takuya, but fuck, does Akanishi need to dismiss him before he’s even heard him play? He stomps over to the piano seat and cracks his fingers once, determination to prove Akanishi wrong rising up, the same determination that had had meant he’d carried on playing the piano even when he’d forgotten the notes during his year 7 music concert, a move that had led his piano teacher to hurriedly cross the stage to shove the score at him.

He catches sight of Subaru, who is calmly finishing up tuning his double bass, and shares a slight nod with him before lifting up the piano cover and running his fingers lightly across the keys.

It’s easy to forget about Akanishi’s dismissal and focus on slipping into [Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brqxEdwsTQs) without worrying about anyone else, and he struggles not to smile when Subaru begins to diligently pluck at his bass, both of them sliding into a familiar pattern of rhythm. And his smile grows wider when he hears Kusano exclaim happily, before the familiar strains of his sax starts up, a soft dusky sound pouring out, and fuck, Kame’s forgotten just how talented Kusano really is.

Kame can almost feel the stress pouring off of him in streams, tension slithering out of his fingers and into the keys, each clash of chords, each sudden change in tempo makes his shoulders unknot, until he’s leant back into the stool, a slight smile on his lips; and as he catches Subaru’s peaceful expression and Kusano’s bright gaze, he knows he’s made the right decision to say yes to the trio.

It’s the same feeling that makes him smile as widely as he can as the cheers surround them after the end of year concert, even with the heavy flush of embarrassment he can feel spreading across his cheeks and neck. They’d played their personal best, and he knows he’s not entirely sure he can ever perform quite as well again in the future.

Kusano grins at him and throws a friendly arm over his and Subaru’s shoulders, dragging them backstage to where the rest of the orchestra are waiting with smiles and cheers. He catches Subaru’s almost smile before he’s dragged into the centre of the jazz band, who are already enthusiastically waving closed bottles of beer.

Kusano drags him over to where Akanishi is sitting next to Yuu and a broad shouldered guy with curly black hair who’s running a cleaning cloth through his oboe and laughing at something Yuu’s said. Kame is about to pull away from Kusano’s grip as he realises what Kusano is planning, maybe go and talk to Nakamaru from his Classical Music Through The Ages class, when Akanishi suddenly looks up and arches an eyebrow at them both. Yuu, catching Akanishi’s shifting attention, looks up and breaks into a huge smile.

“Kame! Congratulations. I had no clue you were so damn good at jazz piano.” Yuu enthuses, grinning down at Kame before turning his attention to Kusano. “Kusano, my man, you were fucking ace as usual. When you gonna quit being a stranger and join the brass section again? We’re missing your trumpet skills dude.”

“You play the trumpet?” Kame blurts, eyes widening and Kusano’s nods with a grin.

“Mm, yeah. And yeah, I know exactly who your dad is, and sure he’s the best damn trumpet player Japan’s ever produced. I just figured you didn’t need to hear me fanboy him, you know?” Kusano says easily, shrugging slightly. “But to answer your question Yuu, I’m hoping to join again after Christmas break. Lord knows I’m gonna need some stress relief when exams start in January!”

“Wicked man.” Yuu says, before turning to the curly haired guy with a smile. “But first Kame, I don’t think you’ve met Yamashita Tomohisa. He’s just come back to school after being struck down by the great swine flu, so he’s been kind of MIA for the last three months. Yamapi, meet my roommate Kamenashi Kazuya, pianist extraordinaire. Jin I believe you’ve already met and been insulted by.”

Yamapi smiles widely at Kame, a genuine smile that dimples his cheeks and lights up his eyes, calmly ignoring the small elbow fight going on between Jin and Yuu next to him.

“Pleased to meet you Kamenashi-kun. Feel free to call me Yamapi,” he says, voice low and husky and strangely at odds with his bright smile.

“Fuck off, Yuu,” Jin suddenly mumbles, smacking Yuu over the head before turning to pin Kame with a slightly narrowed expression. “I guess you weren’t too bad for a classical pianist. But you still need to work on your left hand. It’s a little bit sloppy during the tempo changes.”

Kame has to swallow his first reaction to snarl at Jin and punch his stupid smug face, and simply forces his lips into a mockery of a polite smile, distantly aware of Kusano, Yuu and Yamapi watching on in something akin to amusement.

“Thank you for your kind words Akanishi-kun,” Kame says icily, bowing ever so slightly. He graces Yuu, Yamapi and Kusano with a slightly more genuine smile. “I will be sure to take your advice under consideration. Now, if you will excuse me. Good night.”

He’s pretty sure that Akanishi is mocking him as he smiles one last time, something akin to amusement filling his eyes before Kame turns and walks away. But one thing is for certain; spending the next year rooming with one of Akanishi’s best friends should be interesting.

 _Summer 2007_

Kame groans as the fan gets stuck for the third time in the space of an hour, and he’s wondering if it’s even worth it to stagger over and turn it back to face him. It’s almost 40 degrees, and humid as a sauna, and he’s trying to muster up the energy to roll out of bed and shower before his 3:15 exam starts. He’s spent the night before trying to cram for his final end of year exam and has barely slept more than two hours. Even then his dreams had been fretful and restless.

He chances one last lazy stretch and a glance at his watch before Kame stumbles into the bathroom, immediately turning the shower knob to freezing. Yuu is out and he figures he’s got an hour to shower and cram in some more revision before he has to get up and walk to central hall for his exam. It’s almost a relief to step under the cold spray of the shower and just stand there until he can no longer feel the sweat pooling at the base of his spine and sticking his hair to his head.

Three hours later he leaves his last exam, head pounding and hands shaking from the adrenaline rush. He’s half tempted to barricade himself in his room for the night, not entirely convinced he hasn’t managed to fuck his final music theory exam up, but he’d promised Subaru he’d hang with the jazz guys tonight. He knows that if he doesn’t show, Subaru will sic Maruyama onto him, and the last thing he needs is a sugar-happy alto sax player chasing him round campus. With a sigh he drops his books off in his room and heads over to Subaru’s.

He’s not all that surprised that the party is already in full swing. Subaru’s housemate, Koki’s house parties are almost as good as Yuu’s are. Nearly every first year music student is present, as well as a few second years, and the alcohol is running like water. Kame accepts a bottle of beer from one of the tuba players he recognises from jazz rehearsals with a nod of thanks before heading into the kitchen. Koki is busy chatting up a storm in the centre of the room and Kame smiles at Yuu, who is busy making up flaming sambuccas.

“Kame!” Koki exclaims when he catches sight of him mid- story, his smile huge. His hair has been teased into spikes, and the glitter of his earrings shine against the colour. “It’s good to see you, man. How’s life post-exams?”

Kame returns his handshake warmly and laughs slightly at the question.

“It’s sort of weird. I don’t feel like a real university student if I’m not stressing out over exams,” he jokes, taking a pull of his beer.

“I totally get it man. Hey, so Subaru and the others are in the common room through the kitchen. He said to send you there when you arrived, so now that my work here is done, I’m gonna go and try to convince the pretty cellist in the corner to have a drink with me. Ciao.” Koki says, slapping Kame’s shoulder before slouching off to the corner of the room where a pretty girl with short dark hair and large brown eyes is drinking vodka and coke through a straw.

He follows Koki’s directions and smiles when he catches sight of Subaru sitting on a sofa in the centre of the room, Maruyama on one side and Yoko on the other. He’s somewhat unsurprised to see Akanishi Jin sprawled out across a chair, head tipped towards Maruyama’s housemate Ryo, empty bottle of tequila hanging from his left hand. Kame shakes his head slightly before returning the greetings from Yoko and Maruyama.

“So, what’s this I hear about you heading to our hometown without us, huh? Careful Kamenashi, or we’re going to start thinking you don’t like us,” Yoko says immediately, pouting up at Kame.

“Nah, it was a last minute thing to be honest, something Sakuro-sensei organised at the last minute for the piano section. But I promise to inform you in the future should I ever make it back to Osaka,” Kame says grinning.

“I’m gonna hold you to that. But as a consolation prize, you can do some vodka shots with us. Hina bought this stuff back from Poland and none of these fuckers are man enough to drink it straight,” Yoko says, throwing Subaru and Maruyama a disgusted look.

“Actually, none of us are stupid enough to drink 75% vodka straight,” Maruyama says rolling his eyes at Kame. “Or you know, none of us are drunk enough yet to consider it to be good idea.”

Kame opens his mouth to say no when Yoko takes the initiative and shoves a full shot into his hand from a neat line of glasses on the coffee table behind him.

“Ok, toast time! Here’s to success in everyone’s exams, and not reading another fucking book on music theory for two months. Cheers!” Yoko declares, and Kame sighs when suddenly everyone in the room lifts up a drink and Yoko pins him with an expectant look. Kame sighs again, prays he gets home tonight and downs the shot.

Forty minutes later and Kame’s quite happy to conclude that he’s well and truly on his way to being tipsy. He’s ended up sprawled out on the grass outside of Subaru and Koki’s apartment building with a group of Yuu’s friends, and he blinks when someone sprawls down next to him. He turns his head and meets the familiar elegant profile of Akanishi. His eyes are closed and there’s a small smile on his lips.

“You know if you keep up this staring business I’m going to start thinking you’ve got a crush on me,” Akanishi drawls without opening his eyes and Kame’s lips twist downwards. It’s almost a shame, because Akanishi is probably one of the best looking guys on campus, up until he opens his mouth.

Kame rolls his eyes and turns to stare up at the sky. “Has anyone ever told you what an egotistical dick you are? Because if not, I’m going to start making it my mission to inform you every time we meet.”

He hears Jin laugh softly, a slight husk to it before the silence fills the air. Kame refuses to squirm as the silence grows, because damn it, he was here first, but he can feel his shoulders tightening anyway. With a harsh sigh, he moves to stand up, hoping he’ll be able to find Subaru or Koki and go home.

“You off home? There’s a surprise.” Akanishi asks idly, mockingly.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kame demands hotly, the usual mix of embarrassment and irritation filling him whenever he’s in the same vicinity as Akanishi Jin.

“I’m just wondering if you’ve joined some sort of odd cult where having fun is forbidden. Christ knows you never seem to enjoy the parties Yuu throws to cheer you up,” Akanishi sneers, sitting up and pinning Kame with angry dark eyes.

“Oh I’m sorry, Akanishi, I didn’t realise wanting to graduate from university with a decent degree was a stupid idea. Perhaps I should do what you do then and try to fuck my way through every student in our year.” Kame snaps, moving to his feet, fists curled and ready for the fight he can feel Akanishi is about to start.

Instead Akanishi simply smiles, settling back down onto the ground and closing his eyes, dismissing Kame completely.

“Mm you should have told me you were jealous. Maybe focus on something other than university work and I’ll show you a good time,” he murmurs lazily and he’s so fucking self-assured that Kame has to resist the urge to kick him.

Instead he curls his own lips into a smug smile, leans down and hisses at Akanishi, “I don’t do arseholes,” before turning and stalking towards the house again. He catches sight of Akanishi through the kitchen window just before he leaves the house and sees him shaking his head, shoulders shaking with laughter.

And damn, if he doesn’t look good with his head tipped back into the moonlight like that. But Kame shakes his head harshly and turns his back on the garden. After all, he doesn’t need to develop a crush on Akanishi Jin, even if he is the best looking guy on campus.

Maybe if he tells himself that enough times he’ll start to believe it.

~ ~ ~

The party is just reaching its peak when he enters the house again, and he shakes his head when he catches sight of Yuu and Nishikido smoking a splif in the corner of the room. Yuu will wake up starving tomorrow, but if it means he’ll drag Kame to the fantastic katusdon place in the centre of town, Kame isn’t going to complain too much.

He can’t find Subaru but Koki is leaning against the wall, relaxed smile on his face, and a half finished cigarette hanging from his left hand. He glances up when Kame leans next to him and smiles sloppily.

“Hey man. Having’ a good time?” he asks, offering the cigarette to him. Kame nods his thanks and takes a drag, cursing high school for getting him addicted to the thin white sticks.

“Mm, you guys throw almost as good a party as Yuu,” he smiles. “Just wanted to let you know I’m heading back. But before I go, Yuu mentioned something the other day about you guys planning to organise a movie night, and I just wanted to let you know that I’ve got an overhead projector my brother gave me last year. It’s not as good a quality if I’d gotten it new, but it works pretty well.”

Koki blinks in surprise and Kame struggles not to fidget. The thing is that yeah, he’s friends with Subaru and Kusano, and him and Yuu are pretty tight, but he’s starting to think that maybe Akanishi’s got a point; maybe he does focus too much on university work. And well, the one time he’d hung out with Koki after a concert, he’d laughed so hard he’d ended up with stitches for an hour after, so he figures that if he’s going to try to make friends, Koki is definitely at the top of his list. And yet, the way Koki is looking at him makes him feel like taking the words back and just going back to his dorm to hide.

“That would be pretty awesome Kame-chan,” Koki says thoughtfully, face creasing into a giant smile. “But before we make plans for movie night, you free tomorrow? Me and Nakamaru are gonna try to catch that new zombie film down at the university campus. Tickets are only ¥1000 on Sundays.”

“Yeah,” Kame says grinning. “I think that would be pretty awesome.”

“Ace man. Oi Nakamaru, we’ve got another taker for the cheap movie night. Hell, maybe with two of us you won’t jump like a girl every five seconds tomorrow,” Koki hollers, throwing an arm around Kame’s shoulders and dragging him over to where Nakamaru is protesting loudly at Koki’s statement.

Kame grins, and for once doesn’t worry about getting up early to revise or practice. Maybe he’ll stay at the party for a few more minutes yet.

~ ~ ~

Kame can feel a headache growing behind his eyeballs. It's a Saturday, he has a 5000 word essay on the opera’s of Gluck versus Mozart and instead of locking himself in the practice room to bash away his frustration on the piano department’s piano, he is stuck glaring at Akanishi Jin, who is standing stubbornly in front of the _practice room he wants to use_.

It’s been four days since the party and apart from an excruciatingly awkward dinner Yuu had forced Kame to attend with Akanishi and Yamapi, he’s not seen the other. The last thing he expects to see is Akanishi down in the piano division. Damn it, don’t they have their own practice rooms up in the percussion section, he thinks darkly, straightening up when he catches sight of Akanishi smirking at him.

"You can stop glaring at me like that, Kamenashi, before you ruin your pretty face. You didn't sign up to use the practice room and I'm sure as hell not moving." Jin says, narrowing his eyes as Kame takes a step forward, as if he expects Kame to suddenly dive towards him and push him out of the way of the practice room door.

"Damn it Akanishi, I signed into use the room with Domoto-sensei ok? It's not my fault if the scatter-brained idiot didn't write my name down. Now if you don't move in the next five minutes I swear to God I am not above using physical violence." Kame hisses dangerously, already wondering if he can knock Akanishi out with a music stand some careless student had left out in the corridor.

Akanishi copies him and takes two steps forwards, crossing his arms across his chest stubbornly. "Not my fault if you signed up to use the practice room with that idiot Koichi," Akanishi sneers. "And as much as I enjoy arguing with you out here, I've got two hours of free time and I intend to spend them practicing, not arguing with uppity pianists."

Kame is filled with such sudden rage that he wants to punch Akanishi. He's never been particularly violent but something about Akanishi presses all of his buttons. Yuu had stupidly suggested that it was sexual tension once and had come close to being pushed in front of a car. Sure, Akanishi is good looking if you like the smug, perfectly dressed look, which Kame does not thank you very much. It's just that every time he opens his mouth, all of the admiring thoughts Kame might have had about his looks or his music skills disappear in a blaze of irritation and frustration. He takes a deep breath, considers snapping something devastatingly witty back, before deciding Akanishi just isn't worth it. Instead he sneers back at Akanishi before turning around and walking away. Maybe Oguri-kun in his piano division will let him share a practice room with him, he thinks darkly.

"You know, I'd thought you were more of a fighter. You've let me down," Akanishi calls after him, sounding amused and smug.

Kame turns around just before he opens the heavy doors into the main offices and graces Akanishi with a slightly vicious smile and a mocking bow.

"Apologies. I wasn't aware that stuck-up percussionists who thrive on putting others down were worthy of a proper fight. Do enjoy your practice, Akanishi," he says, voice perfectly bland and face perfectly blank. He gets the reaction he wants when Akanishi's lips tighten and his eyes narrow.

 _Score_ , Kame thinks. He may not be as pushy as Akanishi but never let it be said that Kame doesn't know how to fight back.

 **Part II**

 _Winter 2007_

“Oi, oi Kame,” is the first thing Kame hears the morning of his end of winter term recital. He’s spent the night before running through his performance piece, nausea and exhaustion battling for control until he’d finally slipped away into sleep just before dawn. So when he turns around and sees Koki hurrying towards him with his violin tucked under his arm, he has to struggle not to groan. Koki’s managed to rope him in to playing the accompaniment for his violin recital, and he’s picked some ridiculous, [Rumanian folk music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTBC734Lljk&feature=related) piece, with a complex right hand pattern and an even more complex left hand chord progression. Unfortunately Kame has come to learn over the years that to outright reject Koki’s pleas is to lead to weeks of wheedling, pleading and puppy dog eyes.

Even so, Kame is allowed at least some off days, and so he allows himself to spin around and glare at Koki, irritation and exhaustion making his frown that much more threatening.

“Ah Kame-Chan, dude you walk way too fast,” Koki says, skidding to a stop by Kame, pink and green high-tops squeaking obnoxiously, completely ignoring the way Kame’s eyebrows furrow into a deeper frown at the noise. “I spoke to Jin today, you know Akanishi Jin, the percussion guy? Joined the orchestra at the beginning of the year, best friends with that idiot Yamashita and your roommate Yuu who set the theatre set on fire at last year’s end of year party?”

“Yes Koki, I am well aware of who Akanishi Jin is,” Kame snaps, his irritation growing tenfold, because if there is anything more frustrating than a night’s lack of sleep and dealing with unfairly chipper friends, it’s being reminded of Akanishi Jin. They’d not exactly gotten off to the greatest start and Kame will tell anyone who will listen that Akanishi is a smug, self-centred bastard who will shag anything with legs. It also doesn’t help that he is one of the most unfairly talented students in Tokyo’s National University of Fine Arts & Music.

“Ah yeah, I forgot you guys have ‘history’,” Koki says, smirking slightly, and Kame throws him a glare and wonders if it’s fitting for the number one pianist in his division to kick the number one violinist.

“Anyway, he said to tell you that Subaru had to cancel your early morning jam cos Mizushima-sensei’s on his case about missing too many singing lessons, so that means you’re free until 12 right?” Koki said, jumping in front of Kame and doing a half bow, eyes crinkling into his patented large puppy dog look. “Because if you are, and you’ll go through this Bartok piece with me I swear to God, I will pay for all of your drinks on New Year’s Eve, _and_ I’ll cook you dinner for two months next term.”

Kame’s mouth is already open to deliver a short, sharp no, when Koki throws in the last bit. The thing is, Kame’s broke as anything right now, now that they’re in the exam period and there are no classes for Kame to TA for, and that means a limited amount of alcohol for New Years. Furthermore, despite the fact that he’s already spent one year away from home living on his own, Kame’s cooking repertoire is still limited to instant ramen, omelettes, miso soup and rice, and Yuu’s isn’t much better. And Koki is almost as famous for his cooking as he is for his house parties. It therefore takes Kame all of five seconds of consideration to say yes, wincing when Koki gleefully hooks an arm through Kame’s elbow and drags him down to the first practice room on the right.

~ ~ ~

Six hours later Kame finally leaves the practice room with Koki, both of them grumpy and starved. They make a silent unanimous agreement to head to the cafeteria for something to eat, and Kame feels slightly more human after he’s inhaled the café’s chicken curry and rice. They both glance up when Nakamaru slides into a chair opposite them, his own tray landing on the table.

“Hey guys. How’d the practice go?” Nakamaru asks, diligently pouring soy sauce all over his rice before separating his vegetables into piles. Kame had once asked Koki what that was all about and Koki had shrugged and explained that as long as he’s known Nakamaru, he’d been weird. Which is amusing considering Nakamaru spends most of his life dressed in preppy jumpers and perfectly pressed Oxford shirts.

“Long,” Koki grunts and Kame shrugs. They’ve only just finished getting to a stage where they don’t want to kill each other, and Kame really isn’t up to another fight about whether Bartok was a true pioneer of experimental music simply because he’d made his harpists play with pencils in his [Concerto for Orchestra](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9bIoYvdMtE&feature=related).

Which by the way, he totally was, no matter what Koki says. After all Koki has no foot to stand on; he likes _[John Cage](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E)_.

“Ah,” Nakamaru says, nodding sagely. “Then I’m guessing you guys haven’t heard about the fundraiser the uni’s doing? To raise money for kids in Africa to buy instruments?”

“Yeah?” Koki asks, looking up from where he’s been demolishing his bowl of ramen like it’s going to get up and walk off of his plate. “That’s pretty cool. What are we doing for it?”

“Takizawa-sensei was talking about busking? In the centre of town, sort of a like competition to see who can raise the most amount of money. I don’t know about doing that, but there were a couple of awesome ideas flying around.” Nakamaru explains and Kame meets Koki’s eyes across the table, unsurprised to see a bright gleam in his eyes.

“Busking, definitely,” Kame says, and Koki grins and nods his head.

“Definitely. Me on my violin, you on a keyboard. It’d be wicked. We should see if Kusano is interested. I figure we can do some sort of odd classicial/jazz fusion? Maybe get Akanishi and Ohkura from percussion on board. Yamapi, Yuu and Ryo will definitely be up for it as well.” Koki says, brain already plotting how to get everyone involved. Kame is so caught up in Koki’s enthusiasm that he doesn’t even flinch at the mention of Akanishi’s name.

“Mm, Yuu will definitely be up for it. I can have a word with Kusano, but I’ll leave Yamapi, the percussion guys and Ryo to you,” Kame agrees, spooning up the rest of his curry and taking a drink of his water.

“Ok. When does the fundraiser end?” Koki asks Nakamaru, who looks mildly amused at their enthusiasm.

“December 5th,” Nakamaru says. “Gives you guys just over three weeks to organise everything.”

“Ok. So if we can get hold of the others, we should meet at my dorm in an hour?” Koki says to Kame and Kame nods his agreement. “Good. See you both then.”

“What do you mean both?” Nakamaru yelps as Kame and Koki stand up to clean their trays. “Oi, I didn’t agree to join your busking group.”

Kame pats Nakamaru’s shoulder sympathetically and follows Koki out of the door. He bumps fists with Koki before heading over to the jazz department. He’s only done busking once or twice in the past with friends from high school and even then it was part of the school music festival. Although seriously—how hard can busking really be?

~ ~ ~

Unbelievably hard is what Kame and the ten other guys realise as they run through an arrangement of [Benny Goodman’s I Got A Heartful Of Music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBs9gZQX7lQ) that Yuu has managed to find buried in the stacks of the wind department. They’ve been at it for two hours now, and have yet to receive more than a handful of ¥500 coins.

But then Ryo turns to them all in disgust and says flatly, “Seriously man, if we don’t bring out the Pink Floyd we’re gonna lose this damn competition, and I don’t know about anyone else, but fuck if I’m going back a loser.”

Kame cracks his fingers nervously as Ryo and Koki start an intense debate about whether they should lead with [Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYiahoYfPGk) or Money, and throws a sideways a look at where Akanishi, Subaru and Ohkura are slouching against the wall. Akanishi is wearing a pair of ray-bans, and dressed low-slung black jeans and a black Rolling Stones t-shirt tucked under a battered black leather jacket. He looks far too chilled out to be busking for money in the middle of winter. In fact he’s the only one not wrapped up in layers and looks entirely unbothered by it. He’d sent Kame an arched look when he’d arrived with Koki before reaching for one of the coffees that Yamapi had provided before focusing back onto his glockenspiel, fingers deftly twirling a drumstick in the air.

Kame comes back to himself when Koki suddenly declares, “Alright you lot. Let’s start with [Money](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhX5W7JoWI). After three; one, two and three.”

Kame deftly begins, Ohkura pounding out a steady 7/4 beat, as Subaru plucks out the bass line on his double bass. Akanishi clashes the cymbals every second beat before Subaru leans back and lets the music pour forth, Dick Parry’s famous saxophone solo ringing out across the streets of Nerima. Kame grins as he pounds out the bass part on his keyboard, working it so it sounds as much like a guitar as he can make it and suddenly it _gels_.

As they come to the end of the piece and Ryo finishes off his clarinet solo deftly, taking David Gilmour’s guitar solo and melding it to his jazz clarinet, Kame grins as the crowd around them claps and cheers, casually tossing money into Kusano’s empty saxophone case in front of them. Kame catches Koki’s grin across the way and doesn’t even protest when Yuu declares that it’s pub time.

They end up in their local bar, a tiny place tucked in between a karaoke parlour and an all night ramen restaurant and Kame is happy to order a pint of beer and sit tucked between Koki and Nakamaru. He’s unsurprised when Yuu and Akanishi declare that its mystery shot time and resigns himself to drinking a number of unrecognisable alcoholic shots.

He blinks when Akanishi clinks his shot against Kame’s and smiles secretively, and says, “To learning to keep our mouths shut about things we don’t understand,” before following Subaru to the bathroom leaving Kame puzzled and pointedly ignoring Yuu’s raised eyebrow. He shrugs when Koki nudges his shoulder and sends him a ‘what the hell is that about’ look and goes back to his drink. Akanishi is weird and every time they meet Kame leaves feeling so frustrated he almost wishes he’d never had the misfortune of meeting Akanishi.

“Who wants to do karaoke?!” Kusano suddenly asks, and grins when everyone but Kame cheers and says yes. Kame shakes his head at Kusano’s look and settles back to watch his friends make fools of themselves.

“The others are doing karaoke,” Kame says when Akanishi returns and looks around with an arched eyebrow.

“Not your thing, huh,” Akanishi smiles and Kame is instantly on his guard. Akanishi is never this friendly and Kame is beginning to wonder if he’s already drunk.

“You know when you’re not frowning at everyone and everything you’re kind of good looking,” he says, thoughtfully turning to watch Kame.

“Thanks Akanishi. I’ve waited my whole life for you to tell me that I’m passably good looking,” Kame sighs, rolling his eyes and ignoring the way Akanishi is watching him.

“You know, if you don’t stop with the Akanishi this and Akanishi that and call me Jin, I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me,” Jin says and Kame is suddenly aware that he’s moved slightly closer, eyes glittering in the dim lighting.

“Then I guess you’ve hit the nail right on t _Jin_ ; I don’t like you. You’re rude and arrogant and you expect everyone to fall at your feet in admiration, when nine times out of ten you’ve got nothing polite to say to anyone. And then, if someone doesn’t show you any interest you take to putting them down or stalking them,” Kame snaps, sending Jin a pointed look and taking a sip of his beer.

Jin suddenly shoots a hand out and grabs onto Kame’s wrist, pulling Kame towards him.

“Ah, and yet _I_ like you,” he breathes before cupping his hand around Kame’s chin and placing his mouth over Kame’s. The kiss is sloppy and Kame can taste the rum on Jin’s tongue and breath. Kame’s is almost frozen because Jesus Christ, this is Akanishi Jin, and damn it, he doesn’t even _like_ Jin, let alone want to kiss him. But Jin’s eyes are slipping shut slightly and Kame feels himself relax, let’s Jin kiss him softly and sweetly until Kame’s heart is pounding in his chest.

Jin pulls back and arches an eyebrow at Kame’s slightly dazed expression, before smirking.

“I guess you do like me, huh,” he practically purrs and Kame realises with a flush that he is staring at Jin with a ridiculously sappy expression on his face. He shoves Jin away and moves to his feet, grabbing his coat and turning to pin Jin with a furious expression.

“Fuck you,” he snarls and before Jin can open his mouth and make a stupidly lewd joke he turns and stalks out the door, ignoring Koki’s calls. Christ he needs a drink he think, but first, he needs a shower. He can feel frustration and rage and something that feels like hurt rise up. It almost feels like Akanishi’s seen into Kame’s head and discovered the silly little crush Kame can feel developing and painstakingly used it to his advantage. He shouldn’t be surprised though. Akanishi has proven he thrives on competition. Kame can’t expect Akanishi to act any differently with him.

Even still, there’s a tiny bit of Kame that feels let down. Which is why he spends the next day hiding in the library, hoping he’ll never have to see Akanishi Jin again. He’s made it until just after lunch time without anyone interrupting him, when Yuu suddenly appears opposite him with the devil himself in tow. He feels a stab of panic so intense he almost wants to melt into the floor with embarrassment, but Jin simply nods at him when Yuu says hello, no taunting smirk or raised eye brow, and Kame begins to hope that perhaps Jin was simply too drunk to remember last night. It doesn’t stop him from spending the entire hour on the edge of his seat just waiting for Jin to drop the bomb casually.

But then Yuu stands up and stretches, asks Kame if he wants to join him and Jin for dinner before shrugging and loping out with Jin in tow when Kame says no. And Kame practically melts in relief into his seat. He can feel a headache beginning in his ears and knows he’s not going to get any more work done, so settles for heading back to the apartment thirty minutes later.

He’s surprised to see Yuu sprawled out across his bed flipping through a copy of _Naruto_. Yuu meets his eyes and arches an eyebrow at the carton of cup ramen in Kame’s hands. He shrugs and sits with a sigh at his desk, spinning the chair round to face his roommate.

“You saw him kiss me last night,” Kame says bluntly, frowning when Yuu nods and sits up.

“Only me and Kusano saw,” Yuu explains. “Everyone else was looking through the karaoke book. He says he doesn’t remember anything. I think its bullshit, but I’ve learnt the hard way that there’s no point in pushing Jin.”

“You make it sound like I want a relationship with him or something,” Kame mutters, picking at his nails.

Yuu smiles and says “Sure you don’t,” so softly Kame almost doesn’t hear it as he goes to read through his lecture notes. He frowns, wondering if he should demand that Yuu repeat himself. After all, it's not as if he likes Akanishi.

~ ~ ~

 _Spring 2008_

Winter rolls into spring with ease and suddenly Kame is trying to sort out a summer internship with _Hochschule für Musik und Theater München_ before the end of term. He’s spent the last week desperately trying to remember all of the English he’d learnt in school, basically forcing Koki and Kusano to proofread every email he’s sent off. Kusano, meanwhile, is organising a party to welcome all of the exchange students over from Switzerland. Kame thinks he’s just trying to score some points with Kuroki Meisa, the exceptionally pretty pianist who’d eaten up and spat out most of the students in his year who’d tried to ask her out.

Kame had watched Jin attempt it on Saturday night at the student bar, and had been both surprised and vaguely uncomfortable to watch her smile up at Jin, gesturing for him to sit down opposite her. Kame’s not quite sure how to explain his feelings for Jin. Following the kiss Jin has all but ignored him, going back to the icy silence he’d presented Kame woth back at the beginning of their first year and Kame feels stupid for feeling slightly offended.

They’d met only once over Christmas when Koki and Kusano had made an extravagant roast dinner after Kusano had spent the weeks leading up to Christmas fantasising about all the amazing food he’d had in New York; once he’d gotten some recipes from his mum, Koki had all but corralled the entire orchestra not going home for the holidays into attending his Christmas dinner at their apartment.

He’d managed not to drop the cheese cake he’d bought from the store in surprise when he’d seen Akanishi sprawled out on the sofa talking to Yuu and had simply hesitantly returned the nod Akanishi had sent him. They’d ended up opposite one another on the table and Kame hadn’t even been able to work up much more of a reaction than to simply roll his eyes at Yuu’s eyebrow waggle.

Yamapi had started the conversation by talking about his girlfriend, a pretty girl called Erika, who’d taken up the flute as an extra credit class, and halfway between a joke Koki had been telling about his violin teacher and a cat, he’d met Akanishi’s eyes across the table and smiled before he’d even thought about it. Akanishi had looked surprised before he’d smiled back, and Kame had felt that treacherous pound of his heart, the same one that had snuck up on him back at the end of last year when Akanishi had kissed him.

The same thing had happened later on, when Kusano had forced everyone to pull Christmas crackers his sister had sent him from America, laughing every time someone jumped in surprise, and forcing people to read out the awful jokes, translating everything quickly into Japanese. Kame had been focused on scraping up the last of his mash potatoes when Akanishi had calmly offered him the end of his cracker, eyebrows raised in something like a challenge. Kame had considered ignoring him, or saying no, but then he’d caught sight of Yuu watching them out of the corner of his eyes, face relaxed into a genuinely pleased smile and suddenly he didn’t want to ruin his roommate’s Christmas. So he’d reached across the table and pulled, rolling his eyes when Akanishi had won and grinned with something akin to smug amusement, simply shaking his head when he translated his own joke, the English sounding odd.

And later on when Kame had helped a drunken Yuu stumble back to their dorm, he’d realised that he’d had an entire evening with Akanishi without either of them starting a fight.

It was, he mused, nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

~~~

It is probably why he’d been somewhat less surprised when he’d walked into Jin at the student bar. Jin had nodded and Kame had been so surprised that Jin was acknowledging his presence for the second time in two months that it had taken him a few seconds to return the nod.

“You were pretty good. During the [Prokovief](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKSwo1MB0K8&feature=related) piano concerto for last year’s end of year concert, I mean.” Jin said after he’s ordered a drink and Kame was trying to catch the bartender’s eyes. Kame had blinked before turning towards Jin in surprise.

“Um. Thank you, I guess. For the praise I mean. I enjoyed playing the piece,” Kame had said politely, bowing his head slightly.

“You’re welcome.” Jin had said, bobbing his head slightly. The silence had returned and Kame almost breathed a sigh of relief when the bartender returned with Jin’s drinks. He’d watched Jin pay before making his own order.

“Kame-kun,” he’d heard before Jin left and he blinked when he’d realised Jin was watching him closely, something unreadable in his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow right? At Kusano’s party? Because if not, I just wanted to, you know. Apologise, I guess, for being a dick.”

Kame could practically feel how hard it must have been for Jin to apologise. He’d figured out fairly quickly that Jin didn’t back down from a lot of things, and the fact that he’d admitted he acted like an idiot had made Kame feel that Jin at least meant his apology.

“I’m going to Kusano’s,” Kame had called as Jin had suddenly turned to walk away. Jin had spun around when he’d heard Kame and something on his face had seemed oddly hopeful. “Tomorrow night, right? I’ll guess I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah,” Jin had said, smiling slightly before he’d walked off to where Meisa was waiting.

It’s as he’s reminiscing on that that he realises that he’s been at university for a year and a half now and he’s not even considered dating anyone. It’s even worse when he realises that the only person he’s even kissed is Akanishi, and that he’d spent most of the kiss behaving like a stupid girl with a crush. But tonight that’s going to change; he’s spent some time with a pretty flute player called Horikita Maki, one of Kuroki-Kun’s friends, and she’s proven to be both lovely looking and to have a fantastic sense of humour. He knows she’s going to be at Kusano’s place tonight and he’s planning on forgetting about Akanishi and awkward, confusing kisses with stupid guys who don’t know what they want and focusing on spending an evening with a pretty, intelligent girl.

Of course the reality is that he spends the evening stuck watching Kusano and Maki talk about New York, as he sighs and counts down the minutes until he can leave without being rude. He takes a look around the room and smiles as he watches Yamapi and Ryo jam with Ryo’s battered old fender in the corner, Yamapi warbling out an old TOKIO love song to the group of girls opposite him, who are laughing and clapping. He continues looking around and blinks when he realises Jin and Meisa are watching him. Jin turns away and reaches for his drink but Meisa smiles slightly and nods her head at him. Kame feels like he is being tested for something and haltingly nods back, awkwardly returning her smile.

He suddenly feels like he is missing something, a feeling that grows when Yuu grins at him across the room and salutes him with his beer bottle before turning and walking over to Ryo and Yamapi. Kame sighs, suddenly feeling like everyone’s laughing at some private joke, and heads back out to the grassy area outside of Kusano and Koki’s apartment and settles on the bench chained to the sad-looking tree in the middle of the garden area. It’s quiet out here, the steady thump of the bass becoming a back track against the soft hush of cars. It’s warm for March, and Kame feels comfortable enough to roll the sleeves up of his jumper. He’s so focused on his task he almost doesn’t hear the front door slide open until Jin is halfway across the lawn and settling down next to him.

Jin looks pensive and is twirling a daisy around one finger, the white spinning into a wheel that Kame finds himself watching. The silence is starting to become awkward and Kame is almost tempted to start a conversation. But fuck it, Jin’s been ignoring him for nearly three months now. Damned if he makes the effort to talk first.

“I don’t fancy Meisa,” Jin suddenly says and Kame blinks, because what the hell. He didn’t even ask if Jin liked Meisa.

“Ok,” Kame says slowly. “But what has that got to do with me?”

Jin hisses in frustration and spins to face Kame on the bench. “It’s got everything to do with you, you idiot. I’m telling you this so you don’t get the wrong idea, ok? So that when I do this you won’t run off and accuse me of being a serial cheater.”

Kame is about to ask ‘do what’ when Jin suddenly pulls Kame’s face forwards gently and kisses him, and it’s like history repeating itself. The only difference is that this time Kame pulls back and glares at Jin.

“What the fuck are you doing Akanishi?” he demands, watching Jin flinch slightly and close his eyes. “You don’t get to kiss me then ignore me and then try it again. For fuck’s sake, what the hell is your problem?”

“I’ve got this bloody giant crush on you, ok?” Jin suddenly says, pushing himself to his feet. “Despite the fact that you’re stubborn and irritating and too fucking hard-working for your own good. Despite the fact that you spend most of you time off in the library, that you make me hard in a second but won’t give me the time of day unless you’re a little bit tipsy. You drive me fucking insane.”

“Insane? Jesus, Akanishi, do you have any idea how damn confusing you are?” Kame demands, watching Jin angrily pace up and down. “You kiss me one day and then spend three months ignoring me. Sometimes you’re friendly with me and you joke with me, other days you barely have more than two words to say to me, and what you do have to say is sarcastic and sharp.”

Kame’s breathing hard by the time he’s finished, and he’s starting to realise just how much Jin’s actions have affected him. Jin looks surprised before he runs a hand through his hair in agitation.

“Look. I didn’t mean to ignore you ok?” Jin says, almost looking apologetic. “I just didn’t know how to act around you. You didn’t flirt with me, or even pay me any attention, and it confused me. I don’t even know what the hell I’m saying. I’m not asking that we start some sort of epic love affair. But look, I know Takizawa-sensei has arranged a trip to see Carmen in Tokyo next weekend, and well. I got two tickets, and if you wanted to come with me that would be pretty cool. Or you know. You can take the ticket, go with Koki and the others and I guess we could get a drink afterwards? It’s totally up to you, of course.”

Kame is so surprised he feels his mouth fall open. If someone had told him that tonight would end with Akanishi Jin asking him on a date he would have laughed himself senseless. But there’s something so serious, so oddly vulnerable about the way Jin is looking at him that Kame finds himself nodding before he’s really thought about it. But as he watches Jin’s face break into the most genuine smile he’s even seen on his face, one that lights up his eyes and shows a flash of straight white teeth, it is almost worth the embarrassment of his quick answer.

“Fine, but for the record, I don’t put out until at least the sixth date,” Kame says, the words practically falling out of his mouth, as if he’s been friends with Jin for years and hasn’t spent the majority of his university career hating him. He feels himself flush and quickly tips his head to face the sky. He feels more than sees Jin settle down on the bench next to him, relaxation slipping into him like syrup.

“Mm, that’s what you think,” Jin says in a lazy murmur, sliding the daisy into Kame’s hand and calmly slipping an arm around Kame’s shoulders.

And Kame smiles and for once doesn’t think about anything else.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [gothicauthor"](http://gothicauthor.livejournal.com/) for the 2010 [Kizuna Exchange](http://community.livejournal.com/kizuna_exchange) on livejournal. It was written because I know GA loves ridiculous AU's almost as much as I do!
> 
> I have a whole host of people to thank for supporting me with this fic; everyone on my twitter and flist who listened to me whine. I’d especially like to thank [anamuan](http://anamuan.livejournal.com/), [tinybars](http://tinybars.livejournal.com/) and [sollasollew11](http://sollasollew11.livejournal.com/) for beta reading this monster, and to [darlita](http://darlita.livejournal.com/) for listening to me flail and panic about this. You guys are my number one. Title taken from [Pink Floyd’s Great Gig In The Sky](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAydj4OJnwQ&feature=related), a truly fantastic piece of music.
> 
> One small explanation; busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips and gratuities i.e. performing at tube/train stations etc.


End file.
